PJO Spend the night
by Katsuki-chan333
Summary: The PJO/HoO characters go on a quest to Jamaica. What will happen when they 'drop in' on a girl who seems to know everything about them? Story better than summary. Review if you want more.
1. Spend the night

**Hey PJO and/or HoO fans! It's been a while since I posted a fanfic, and I kind of missed it. What you're about to read is a short fanfic, it'll probably only be a one-shot. Today my friends asked me what I would do if Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Nico di-Angelo and Leo Valdez were in my room in the middle of the night. This is the result. Enjoy! ^^**

**Percy's P.O.V.**

It was the Minotaur's fault.

Maybe that isn't the best way to start explaining, but I just wanted to let it be known. It was the Minotaur's. Stupid. Fault. Now I'll start over.

Annabeth and I were riding Blackjack, who was carrying a flying chariot with Nico and Leo in it, over Jamaica. The four of us were on a quest to get the golden crack (don't ask). Let me start by saying that Jamaica is a wee bit over-rated. I always hear people talking about how they'd love to go on vacation here, but it isn't that great. Sure, they've got white sand beaches and I guess the place is green and forested at some places, but it isn't the perfect tropical island that some people assume it is. The violence here is awful. The people are plain rude. Half the time, you couldn't even tell what they're saying. The sun is always swelteringly hot. There's a Hades of a lot of littering and smoking. In short, it's anything _but_ perfect.

Anyways, it was getting late, close to midnight, and we decided to land and find a hotel for the night. But, of course, things never go quite as planned for demigods.

Just as we were about to land, we noticed a dark figure on the roof of a fairly large house. The figure looked a lot like the Minotaur, with coarse brown fur starting at its belly button and working up to a large bull head. The only difference was that it had flaming eyes, as in _literal flames_, and a thick chain around its neck, and it had darker skin.

"Is that…" I squinted at it, "the Minotaur?"

Annabeth looked down at it. "The Minotaur? No…but…" Her eyes widened and she gasped with recognition. She cursed in ancient Greek. "The rolling Minotaur! I've read about it! It's a hybrid of a Greek Minotaur and a Jamaican Rolling Calf! Percy, That thing's more powerful than a regular Minotaur! We have to stop it before it hurts somebody!"

_We have to stop it_. Of course we do. The life of a demigod.

Blackjack landed on the roof of the house, and we all hopped on to it. The '_Rolling Minotaur_' swivelled to face us the moment we landed on the roof.

"It has very acute hearing. I've heard that the only way he can be defeated is with Jamaican swears." **(Authors Note: I didn't make that up entirely…there really is a 'rolling calf' myth in JA, and the only it can be stopped is with loud Jamaican cursing.)**

I stared in shock at my crazy girlfriend. None of us knew any Jamaican swears. We had been too horrified when we were being cursed at to really try to learn any.

I took a deep breath and tried to think. Nobody moved and the Rolling Minotaur looked around in confusion, as if trying to figure out where we had disappeared to. It couldn't find us as long as we didn't make any noise, but we couldn't just stand there forever. A thought flashed into my mind. We were standing on a Jamaican house. A Jamaican was probably inside. A Jamaican who probably knew how to curse. It would have to work, because if it didn't…we were dead.

I concentrated all of my energy, hoping I knew what I was doing, and the earth began to shake.

"Percy," Annabeth hissed, "What are you-"

The Rolling Minotaur locked in on her voice. It charged towards her, but just before it could reach, the roof of the house caved in.

**Annabeth's P.O.V.**

My boyfriend is an idiot.

The dirt and debris took a while, to settle, but when it finally did, we saw a girl sitting bolt upright in her bed. She was holding what seemed to be a kindle, which was gently illuminating her face.

She had dark brown hair, and tan skin a bit darker than mine. Her eyes were a greenish brown colour, hazel, and they seemed a bit ghostly. She was wearing her pj's, a pair of white shorts covered with Snow White's 'Grumpy' and a black shirt, with a large picture of Grumpy and the words: _I'm grumpy, deal with it._ I couldn't help but think of Mr. D when I read it.

She looked around in shock, as if not knowing how to respond. For a moment, the room was absolutely silent. Then the girl's mouth dropped open and she took a deep breath.

The string of words that flew out of her mouth afterwards was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was a mix of several languages, but only curses. I heard a few in Greek, a bit of Latin, and one or two in Spanish. But for the most part, she was saying words that I had never heard before arriving in Jamaica.

The Rolling Minotaur seemed even more horrified than we were. It bellowed loudly tried to cover its ears. It didn't seem to work, as the Rolling Minotaur continued to bellow in pain as it slowly crumbled to dust.

"Calm down!" I yelled at the girl.

She fell silent as she looked around at us. She gasped as something seemed to register in her mind.

"Percabeth!" she screamed, looking back and forth between me and Percy. "Percabeth is happening! Percabeth is happening in my room!"

**Nico's P.O.V.**

"Excuse me?" Percy asked, clearly confused and blushing slightly.

"You're _Percy Jackson,_" she said slowly and clearly, as if that explained everything. "And that's Annabeth Chase. She's your girlfriend. Therefore, your couple name is _Percabeth_. _Perc_ as in _Perc_-y and _abeth_ as in Ann-_abeth_."She lowered her voice. "For the record, I've always supported Percabeth. I never really cared for Prachel, Preyna, Annuke or Lukabeth."

"What are you talking about?!" I yelled, confused.

"Nico!" she yelled back. "Nico di-Angelo! That reminds me of even more terrible pairings, like-"

"Stop!" I screamed at her, my head spinning. She finally clamped her mouth shut. "One step at a time."

"Right." Annabeth agreed, blushing alongside Percy. "First of all, how do you know all of this?"

"Oh," the girl grinned impishly. "I know a lot more than that. I have my sources. My name's Leann."

"What else do you know about us?" Annabeth demanded.

The girl shrugged. "Everything. I know about the teddy bear in your trunk, Percy's kiss with RED-that's what I call her, Rachel Elizabeth Dare- at the beach that one time, I know Nico's past obsession with Mythomagic, and Leo's crazy babysitter, Hera. I know all about all of you."

I stared at her, feeling a bit unnerved. I had never seen this girl before in my life, so how did she know all these things about us. After looking around at the others stunned expressions, I saw that I obviously wasn't the only one.

"But…" Annabeth started. "How…"

I noticed a large shadow towards the corner of the room. "Uh, you guys," I interrupted, "We have a visitor!"

Everyone turned their gaze towards the shadow, which I now realised was a giant black spider. Annabeth and Leann screamed in unison.

"S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-sp-s-s-sp-sp-sp-sp-sp-sp-sp-SPIDER!" Annabeth shrieked, clearly horrified. Percy put his arm around her supportively.

"Claude!" Leann yelped. "It's Claude!"

"Did you just say Claude?" Leo asked, clearly lost.

Leann nodded. "His name is Claude. He's a demon spider. He's going to eat my soul!"

I'll admit, I found it hard to believe that this was a demon spider named Claude, which had come to eat the soul of a crazy girl. Then again, it clearly wasn't a normal spider. When you're a demigod, you've got to learn to expect the unexpected.

Percy stepped in front of Annabeth and drew riptide. I pulled out my Stygian Iron blade. Leo reached into his tool belt and pulled out a wrench. Leann cowered behind her pillow, wielding a stuffed grey elephant. Terrifying.

Claude made a series of hisses and clicks and lunged at Leann, who shrieked and threw her elephant at him. Immediately afterwards she called, "Sorry, Landon!" _Seriously?_

I got over my annoyance with her quickly, since Landon nailed Claude in the eye. Claude reeled back, hissing and clicking and hissing some more. Percy and I lunged towards him in unison, and thoroughly ended Claude.

"Bye, Claude." Leann said, sounding a bit sad. "Please don't come back to play again, I don't like your games."

I stared at her in annoyance for a bit before sighing and sheathing my sword. "Anyways, Leann, sorry about destroying your roof and all, but we have to get going. See, we're on this quest-"

"To find the golden crack." Leann finished. "I know." I had almost forgotten that she knew everything. "I also know that you all need sleep. Maybe…" she grinned devilishly at all of us, "you could spend the night?"

**And the all lived happily ever after, the end! Psh, just kidding, we all know it doesn't end like that! Anyways, that's it! If you think I should continue, leave a comment saying so, okay? Thanks to all my readers, I'll remember you in the Grammies! Bye-bee!**


	2. I'm not crazy

**Hey you guys! Okay, so I know I haven't posted for a while, but I was actually almost finished and something happened to my computer and it was deleted, so I had to start it over. Big ups to Demigodlishness for being my first reviewer! Also, thanks to stardustcandy (fictionpress, check out her stories ^^) for the idea for this chapter! Thanks for your feedback, those who reviewed! I love all of y'all! And now, without further ado, Chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing…especially not the rare species of magic rainbow princess unicorns… *glances at cage* Uh…**

**Leo's P.O.V.**

After a short debate, we decided to stay.

Don't get me wrong, sleeping in a creeper's house wasn't very high on my list of things to do (it's currently somewhere between slapping an Ares cabin member across the face and bungee jumping without a rope), but it happened to be extremely convenient at the time. Firstly, we could get in and out quickly and easily. Second, it was free, _major _bonus. And if it came down to it, it would be four trained demigods versus one of her, so at least it was safe.

"Alright, we'll stay. But if you do anything weird –"

"Oh, fantabulistic!" Leann cried, applauding. "I just _knew_ you'd decide to stay!" It was a bit unnerving to know she really did _know _we'd be staying…

"Alright, as for sleeping arrangements…" she continued, straight to business. "Annabeth should probably sleep here, since we're both girls and all. There's a king bed upstairs and two beds downstairs, so you guys can decide who sleeps where. Or…" she glanced slyly between Percy and Annabeth, "if you guy want to see some _real _Percabeth, they could share the bed upstairs and-"

Percy and Annabeth both turned bright red and cut her off my stammering incomprehensible things loudly and randomly. I did have to give it to the crazy chick; she could be pretty funny…as long as you weren't the subject of her jokes.

In the end, Annabeth graciously offered to share the room with Leann (she slept with a knife under her pillow that night), while Nico and I slept downstairs and Percy got the king bed all to himself. Lucky.

**Percy's P.O.V.**

I was in the middle of enjoying one of my rare dreamless sleeps when a shuffling sound rudely dragged me towards consciousness.

_Get up!_ My instincts urged me. _You need to check what that sound was._

_ Shut up, instincts. _I countered. _Can't you just let me sleep for once?_

_ No! _My instincts replied urgently. _This could be a life or death situation! Go check!_

_ I'll check in the morning._ I decided, rolling over. _Good night, instincts._

_ Perseus Jackson. _My instincts sounded pretty pissed now. _You get up _right now _and go check what that sound was._

I groaned slightly and pulled myself into a sitting position. When I started having arguments with my instincts, and _losing_ them at that, it was time to listen.

I rubbed by eyes sleepily and squinted at a dark figure hunched over my bag.

"Who's there?" I asked, reaching for riptide.

The figure froze. "Busted." Leann's voice whispered.

"Leann?" I muttered. "Why are you going through my stuff?"

"Well, um, y-you see…" she stammered, clearly trying to find an excuse. After a few moments, she sighed. "Alright, the thing is…I've known about you guys for a long time. As in, since I was, like, seven. But…I didn't know if you were real. Whenever I would talk to someone about you, they'd think I was crazy…but I'm not! I just…see things sometimes…I just wanted proof that you were real…"

I stared at her for a few moments as we sat in the dark. Finally, I spoke up. "What kind of things do you see?"

She shook her head. "Weird things…scary things…gods claiming their children, man eating sheep, the hunters oath, a bloody battle in a labyrinth, a broken promise, fire, ghosts, tartarus, spiders, monsters!" Her voice got more and more hysterical as she went through the list. By the time she had reached monsters, I thought she was going to start hyperventilating. She glanced warily at me. "I'm not crazy…I'm just a bit unstable. That's expected though, right? If I see all these horrible things…it's enough to make anyone crack, right?!"

We sat in silence for a few more moments as I considered this. "Leann…get some rest. I'll help you get through this in the morning. We all will. But for now, just sleep, okay?" She nodded wearily and trudged out of the room.

I lay in the bed staring at the roof. Suddenly, I didn't feel so tired. What was going on? As my eyes finally became heavy, I feared my sleep wouldn't be as peaceful as it had been before…

**And that's chapter two! I felt like I wanted to go deeper into Lean's character…sorry if it didn't come out quite right. Okay, this is the last time I'll ask, but should I continue or not? If yes, I kind of have an idea of what should happen next. If no…well, no hard feelings, right? Let me know what you think in the reviews, okay? Byee! Thanks for reading!**


	3. To Camp!

**Oh my gosh! I love you guys! I was seriously overwhelmed by the amount of views my story got only moments after updating! And it's still rising! It would be nice if more of you would actually review, though… Anyways, this chapter is for my friend Otaku-TACO who keeps pestering me about how I need to include her in it…Here's chapter three!**

**Disclaimer: I only own the power of crazy. Nothing else. NOTHING. O.o**

**Leo's P.O.V.**

I opened my eyes blearily and looked around the room, wondering for a moment where I was. Then I remembered the crazy girl who lived in this house and hopped out of bed. I looked around once more; no, she wasn't in here. I looked over at Nico, who was still sleeping like the dead. Get it? Sleeping like the dead? Son of Hades? Ha, I crack myself up.

Wondering if the others were up yet, I made my way upstairs. I was greeted by the sight of Leann with crazy morning hair rushing back and forth I the kitchen. She seemed pretty anxious and there were several pans on the oven.

Unable to pass up the opportunity, I snuck up behind her. "An all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet just for me? You shouldn't have." I ended up dodging a knife she was holding as a result.

Turning, Leann realised it was me. "Leo! Don't surprise me like that!" She sounded a bit irritated.

I hesitated for a moment, not sure I wanted to ask. "Sorry…but…shouldn't you have known I was coming? You said you know everything…didn't you?"

For a second, I thought I saw a shadow of fear flicker across her face. Then Percy entered the room and she hurriedly returned to flitting about the kitchen. Percy glanced between the two of us, seeming to sense that something was off.

"Hey guys," he said warily. "What's up?" I could tell from the way he kept glancing at Leann that he knew something I didn't. I attempted using my power of awesome to figure out what exactly it was…no success.

"Nothing." Leann replied shortly, her full attention on her cooking. Despite the fact that she seemed absorbed in her task, she kept throwing sideways looks at us. A silence descended on us as Leann finished up her cooking and excused herself form the room.

The second she left, I turned to Percy. "Alright, fess up. What are you hiding?"

Percy shifted nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any secrets."

"That's a lie." I countered automatically. "You know something about Leann. What is it?"

Percy opened his mouth to reply, most likely to attempt to deny it again, when Leann returned, followed by Annabeth. She looked much more decent now. Her hair was pulled neatly into a curly high ponytail. She had changed from her PJs into black shorts and a plain blue t-shirt.

Annabeth looked at the breakfast buffet in confusion. "What's all this?" she questioned, clearly just as lost as the rest of us.

"Just a little something from me to you." Leann informed us. "I know it's not much, but I really wanted to make something to show you guys just _how much _I _really appreciate _that you guys believe you can _trust me _and that I would _never _do something that would have _bad consequences _for you."

Almost as if to confirm my suspicions that she had done something horrible, there was a knock on the door. After glancing nervously at us, Leann opened it. Another girl entered the room. She was a bit shorter and wider than Leann, with pale skin and dark hair and eyes. She wore a red t-shirt and jeans with sneakers. After entering she stared at the group of us for a long time before recognition flashed across her face. Her jaw dropped. "Holy shit…you're real?!"

"I told you." Leann muttered.

Percy stared at her in shock. "Leann? Did you…tell a mortal about us?"

The girl continued staring at us. "If you're real, then that means…" she focussed her attention on me. "You must be Leo Valdez! You're awesome!" She ran up to me and hugged me.

"At least _someone _appreciates my awesomeness!" was the best reply I could think of. As hard as it was to believe, I had actually never been in a situation like that before. The girl released me just as Nico entered the room, trudging wearily.

"You're Nico di-Angelo! You're the son of death!" She then proceeded to latch onto him.

Nico seemed slightly alarmed. "What the Hades is going on?!"

**Annabeth's P.O.V.**

The group of us sat around a large table in the dining room. It seemed that every last one of us felt the thick tension in the air except the new girl, who we were informed was named Sage. Each of us sent suspicious glances around the table as we nibbled half heartedly.

As far as I could figure, this is what was going on: Percy knew something about Leann but wouldn't tell the rest of us. Leo had figured this out and wanted to know what it was. He had also had a conversation with Leann but didn't seem satisfied enough with his information to use it to bribe Percy for _his _information. I wanted to know what both of them were hiding. Nico also seemed to sense all of this and was trying to pressure the information out of them with his eyes alone. Leann was feeling anxious about so many people trying to figure out something that was so top secret. Sage, being new to the moment, could understand none of this.

And yes, I figured out all of this by looking at people around the table.

Finally, Percy cleared his throat. "Alright, there's something that I need to say. I had a little…chat with Leann last night." Was this it? Was he going to tell us what he knew? All eyes were on him. "She told me something pretty…interesting about herself. I know you all want to know what it is…but I don't think anyone has the right to tell you but her." I was now incredibly irritated at my idiot boyfriend. I mean, what he said made sense and all, and it was only fair that Leann should be the one to tell us her secret, but I really wanted to know what it was, and he had made it sound like he was really going to tell us.  
Percy continued. "Anyways, I thought long and hard last night, and I think it would probably be for the best if we brought Leann back to camp with us."

Everyone stared at him in shock. Even Leann, who supposedly knew everything before it even happened, didn't seem to have expected it.

"But…" I finally spoke up, "what about our quest?"

Percy shrugged. "I figured three of us can continue while one of us brings her back."

Sage stared at the group in awe. "As in, Camp Half-Blood? The camp for heroes?! Can I come too!?"

Everyone glanced around awkwardly. "Uh…no." Leo said. "But that's because we need you for the super important mission of letting Leann's parents know where she's gone."

Sage frowned. "That doesn't sound very fun…"

"Well, camp is over rated anyways." Leo lied. "You really won't be missing much."

**Nico's P.O.V.**

Why did I get stuck with the psycho?

The other's got to go fly off on their magical quest, with the exception of Sage, who had to stay behind, being a normal mortal and all. Meanwhile, I had to ride a pegasus that hated me (the feeling was mutual) to camp with a crazy girl who just _refused _to sit still.

On the bright side, the pegasus was pretty fast, flying even faster than normal because it was anxious to get rid of me, so it wasn't too long of a ride to camp. However, it wasn't long after we landed when things started getting complicated.

Almost immediately as Leann got off of the pegasus (rather woozily, I might add) a senior Aphrodite cabin member let out a shriek nearby. This brought many worried campers (and Chiron) to our location. Murmurs broke out and even Chiron paled as he noticed the glowing symbol over Leann's head. A golden pair of eyes stared down at us for several moments before fading away.

"Come, child," Chiron urged, "we must speak of this immediately. Come to the big house."

"What's going on?" I asked. "Who's sign was that?"

Chiron's only reply was a worried look and a single word.

"Quickly."

**And that's the end of that chapter! I hope you guys like it and keep reading and reviewing! It makes me really happy to know you're enjoying my story, so let me know what you think. Even if you don't like it, constructive criticism is appreciated. If I don't update again soon, it means that Otaku-TACO stoned me because she didn't like her character. Anyways, make sure review! Peace out!**


	4. Vision almost like a prophecy

**You guys, I realised something a while ago! I…I think I'm obsessed with this story…this has never happened before and I don't know how to deal with it, so I'm probably just gonna post as often as possible and see if that does anything…Anyways, thanks as usual to my reviewers! Otaku-TACO seemed to have enjoyed her chapter and I got away with a bruised shoulder instead of being stoned! Yay! Anyways, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned the Percy Jackson series, especially Nico and Leo, but sadly, I do not.**

**Nico's P.O.V.**

A large group of us sat around in the Big House, each cabin leader plus Leann and Chiron gathered together, discussing Leann's claiming very loudly.

"Who's symbol was that?"

"There are no gods with that symbol!"

"Is it Kronos? Kronos has gold eyes…"

"It can't be Kronos! He, like, died or something, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he wouldn't be able to claim her!"

"Then who is it?!"

There was so much noise and confusion that almost no one noticed as a girl slipped into the room. The noise only ceased when the girl spoke.

"Sup," Sage said, taking a bite out of an apple she had brought.

"Sage?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

She stared at me. "Oh, did I forget to tell you that I had been claimed by Ares recently when you _ditched me?"_ She shrugged. "My bad."

I stared at her for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to reply to that but ended up just shaking my head. "Look, sorry 'bout that and all, but we're kind of really busy right now. We're trying to figure out who Leann's immortal parent is…her symbol was a pair of golden eyes, but there are no gods or goddesses that-"

"Gold eyes?" Sage questioned, before shrugging. "That's easy. Her immortal parent is Theia, titan of sight and lights in the sky." She glanced around, seeming a bit confused at all the surprised and perplexed stares she was getting. "You know, Theia, titan of precious metals, wife of Hyperion, mother of Helios, Selene and Eos." She frowned when she continued receiving odd looks. "What? I know shit."

There were a few moments of awed silence as this sank in. Finally, someone spoke up.

"Wait…she's the daughter of a Titan?"

This got the uproar going once more.

"Child of a titan? Is that even possible?"

"Of course it's possible, you nimrod. If gods can _get down _with mortals, why couldn't titans?"

"If she's a titan chick, and titans are, like, bad guys, does that mean she's, like, a bad guy-girl-thing?"

"Which cabin would she be in? There aren't any cabins for titan's…"

"We're not gonna have to give her her own cabin, are we?"

"Well, she's _not _staying in my cabin, that's for sure."

"I don't want her in my cabin either!"

I frowned at the way they talked about her so horribly like she wasn't even there. It kind of made me think of…myself. Back before the whole agreement that the gods were equal, when everyone treated me like an outcast just because I was Hades' son. Even now, even if it wasn't as bad as before, I still got some dirty looks like I shouldn't exist. Annabeth had tried to convince me that it was because of the whole Big Three treaty to not have kids, but no one ever treated Percy like that. And the treaty was over now anyways.

I glanced over at Leann, curious as to how she would react to everyone treating her like an undesirable thing. She seemed rather nonchalant about it, keeping a poker face despite the insults. But I knew that face. I used to wear it all the time. I could see the hurt flickering just behind her seemingly blank eyes.

Finally, fed up with the cold, heartless debate, I spoke up. "She can stay in my cabin."

Silence filled the room as everyone stared at me. They began to look away in shame one-by-one, seeing the furious look clear in my eyes. Only Chiron remained watching, a mixture of gratitude and pride on his face.

After a few more moments of discussion to tie up any loose ends, the meeting was adjourned.

As we left the Big House, Leann fell in step with me. "Thank you." She said quietly.

"What?" I asked, a bit confused.

She rolled her eyes. "You heard what I said, and I'm not repeating it. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate what you did back there. That's the last you're hearing from me on that topic!" Before I could reply, she pecked me on the cheek then bolted across the lawn as if for dear life.

**. . .**

After her first day, Leann didn't really attempt to talk to anyone. She'd realised fairly quickly that things like, "Hey Stolls, that firework prank you're going to do in a few weeks? Hilarious!" and, "Katie, that new fertilizer you decided to try was a bad idea. All your plants are going to die in a few days." weren't exactly the best conversation starters.

It didn't take long for things to return to normal. Well, mostly. The Hades table got more suspicious glances than it had previously. Nico spent most of his time with Sage and Leann. He still wasn't quite used to the idea that there was another life form in his room at nights…

Percy, Annabeth and Leo got back from the quest a few days after Leann had first arrived at camp (the same day, in fact, that Katie's plants died and an exact week before the Stoll's bomb trick). After Nico had filled them in on the whole 'Mama Titan' thing, they automatically started doing everything they could to help Leann feel welcome at the camp.

However, it wasn't long before things got complicated.

One night, while Nico was enjoying a random dream where a giant doughnut told him how to get to Candy Mountain, a horrible scream pulled him roughly into reality.

It took a lot to wake Nico. Any ordinary scream wouldn't have affected him. But this wasn't any ordinary scream. It was a horrible, blood-curdling scream that made you fell shivers straight through to your bones. It pierced through the thick night it one steady, shrill note.

And it was coming from Leann.

She was sitting bolt upright in the bed beside mine, her wide eyes filled with terror as she shrieked, tightly clutching the colourful, worn to shreds stuffed elephant that she slept with. A sheen of sweat glistened on her pale face as she finally ceased her screaming and gasped in deep, ragged breaths.

I was at her side in an instant. "Leann? What's wrong? What happened?" My worries were increased as she scrambled away from me, a look of terror on her face.

The cabin was quickly filled by half-dressed campers wondering what the commotion was all about. I was beginning to worry that Leann would straight up choke from the lack of space, roll over and die, when I heard Leo.

"'Scuse me, make way, V.I.P. coming through." Soon he was at the front of the crowd, closely followed by Sage, Percy and Annabeth. They were all in their pajamas and seemed very confused at the sight of Leann cowering on the floor. "Dude, what happened?"

**. . .**

Much later, the six of us sat in the Big House, casting worried glances at Leann, who was sitting slightly apart from the rest of us, staring at her untouched mug of magic Valdez hot cocoa (**AN: This is actually from one of Otaku-TACO's fanfics…I don't think she posted it yet, but when she does, READ IT!)**. After a few minutes, Chiron ducked into the room, looking seriously unruffled.

"What is all this about?" He questioned.

All eyes turned to Leann. She was the only one who could really answer that question. However she only stared at a spot on the floor a bit in front of her.

She stayed that for what seemed like eternity before taking a shaky breath. "I…it was just a dream. No…a nightmare…

"There were five of us…demigods, I mean." She laughed sadly. "Though I suppose I'm not really a demigod…Anyways, these demigods looked tired and travel worn and slightly…well, crazy. They were walking and the background kept changing. First they were at a mall, then the edge of a cliff. They jumped off of that and landed on the edge of a volcano. They walked along that until they reached the Underworld. They stood outside of a door…the atmosphere…it felt almost like Tartarus, except…not quite the same…

"Then they were inside. The room was completely empty, except for a single chest. And in the chest…" She shook her head. "I don't remember." It was an obvious lie. We could all tell easily that whatever had been in that chest was what had made her wake up screaming.

Nervous glances were cast around the room. We knew that the five demigods were among those gathered in the room. Clearly, Leann was one of them, but who were the other four?

It might seem a bit odd that we were all so concerned about who was there. It was just a dream. But this dream…it sounded almost like a prophecy.

As if on cue, Rachel rushed into the room, seeming out of breath as if she had run all the way from her cave in the woods to get here, which she probably had.

"I need to talk to the new camper," she gasped. "Something tells me it's urgent."

Leann stared at her, cowering like she wanted to melt into the chair and disappear. Instead, she spoke in a voice so quite, it was almost a whisper.

"What is my fate?"

Rachel took a sharp breath as her eyes glowed green and she began to talk in a voice like three people at once:

"_Near and far five heroes shall travel_

_Their sanity and trust will slowly unravel_

_They shall journey to this worlds end_

_They must learn to protect each other, and defend_

_The time will move far too fast;_

_If they're not careful, this fight will be their last."_

**And that's the end of that chapter! I've been thinking…would you all like to see something in Leann's point of view? It might be interesting…Anyways, make sure you review! Peace!**


	5. Isn't shopping fun?

**Hey all you awesome readers! I posted, checked my reviews, slept, started thinking about this chapter and I'm ready to go! I don't really have much to say today, so I'll just go straight to the story! Enjoy!**

**Leo's P.O.V.**

We all rushed forward as Rachel staggered back, but she quickly regained her balance. "Sorry about that," she apologised, "I'm still working on control over the oracle…"

I looked over at Leann, wondering how she would handle the prophecy. She had been rather shaky lately, and I worried that something like that would make her snap. However, all I saw was a blank, unreadable mask. But I could tell from the way she gripped her mug of magic Valdez now cold cocoa so tightly that her knuckles were white that she was less calm than she looked.

I caught her eye for a moment and asked a silent question. _Are you alright?_

For a moment, I thought I saw something flicker in her eyes, but she looked away before I could figure out what it was.

"Let's just decide who's going to be going on the quest…we need to deal with this ASAP, and sleep is obviously needed, so the sooner we deal with this the better." Leann spoke. She had a weary tone in her voice.

I shrugged. "It's your quest, you should decide who comes." Leann stared at me for a moment before looking around at everyone in the room (well…except Chiron). It was clear she wanted all of us to come, but the prophecy had said five…

Leann took a shaky breath. "Alright…Sage, Nico, Leo, and…Percy."

Chiron sighed, seeming extremely worried and a bit irritated. "With that decided, you should go to your cabins and prepare. You'll need to get your rest."

We left the Big House and headed to our respective cabins. Luckily, the campers had gotten tired of waiting to see what had happened and had gone back to sleep.

I went through my cabin, careful not to wake the others, and packed a backpack with any essentials that weren't already in my tool belt. One thought kept circling around in my head. _What was going on?_

**Leann's P.O.V.**

Nico and I packed for the quest, a heavy silence filling the room. I didn't mind it though; it gave me an opportunity to think. I was surprised to find that a series of worries were replacing my usual carefree thoughts. I thought of my special secrets, of this life-threatening quest, of what was really inside that little dream box…

"Nervous?"

I flinched slightly; I hadn't realised Nico had finished packing, or that I had frozen on the spot.

"What do you mean?" I questioned, forcing my limbs to move, finishing up my packing.

"About the quest." Nico clarified. "I mean, you haven't been at camp that long, and now you have to go on some dangerous quest when you can't even fight properly." He chuckled at the look on my face as I remembered my first training experience, where I had discovered quickly that I failed at fighting of any kind.

"It isn't funny." I muttered, pulling myself back to the present. Still, I couldn't help but smile. "I really don't have the time or energy to worry about that right now. Why don't we just try to get some sleep, huh?" Without giving him a chance to respond, I crawled into bed. "Goodnight, Nico."

I heard him getting into his own bed with a slight sigh. "G'night."

I lay in the still darkness for I don't know how long, thinking hard about the quest. I knew _exactly _what this quest was leading us to, and I didn't like it one bit. I knew I should tell the others, but they would never trust me again if they knew what I was forcing them into. I couldn't tell them…not yet.

Just as my brain began to feel like it was burning out, I felt my bed shift from some unknown weight. It was only when I felt clod lips peck my cheek that I realised that Nico had gotten out of his bed and sat on mine.

"There," he whispered, "now we're even."

I smiled as I felt him get out of my bed, deciding it was time to get some sleep. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. But no matter what I did, that little dream box kept drifting into my thoughts…

**. . .**

"Seaweed Brain…be careful." Percy and Annabeth were saying their goodbyes. If Annabeth was any closer to Percy, I swear they would melt into the same body. "I can't lose you again…I-"

"Annabeth, don't worry about it." Percy comforted. "I promise I'll come back."

"Percy-" Annabeth was cut off as Percy's lips pressed against hers.

"I promise."

"Ugh, would you two get a room?" whined Leo. The questing group, plus Annabeth and Argus, stood at the top of Half-Blood Hill, making sure everything was ready.

"Seriously, are we going or not?" Sage complained. She wore black capri's and a camp T-shirt with black converse. Her short hair was worn down and a silver bracelet glinted on her hand.

"If you two are done with your little Percabeth moment, we should leave." I said, finding that real life Percabeth was less interesting than I had expected. Actually, it was a bit annoying at times.

I was dressed in blue shorts with a black tank top and blue high tops. My hair was braided down my back and a sliver band with a bright blue gem was on my right ring finger.

Percy rolled his sea green eyes. "I'm coming." He kissed Annabeth one last time. "I'll be back." He jogged over to the rest of us by the camp van. "Are we going or what?" We all filed into the van, cursing at Percy's lack of brain cells.

"Right, so down to business," Percy said as the van shuddered to life, completely disregarding our insults. "Where are we headed?"

"The prophecy said we'd go to this world's end." Leo answered, stating the obvious.

"So then the pillars of Heracles?" Sage asked. "Those are referred to as the world's end."

"It might mean Alaska." Nico pointed out. "That's considered the world's end since the gods magic doesn't reach there."

"So then which one?" Leo asked. "How do we know-?"

"You're all wrong." I said thoughtlessly. "It means the underworld. The end of the world of the living, on to the world of the dead."

Silence. Then: "How do you know?" Percy asked.

"Forget already? I see things, duh. Plus that creepy dream said so. Obviously, that plus my little trip to the future would tell you that I know what I'm saying."

Cue further silence. This time, it lasted till we reached the city and got out of the van.

"Well then…to the underworld." Nico said.

"Wrong again, stupid." I told him. "Weren't you listening when I told you that my dream is probably directly linked to this quest? We have to go to a mall first."

Nico stared at me in shock. "A mall? We're trying to deal with a life threatening quest and you think we should _shop?"_

"First of all, a little shopping trip never hurts anyone. Second, I just think we should follow my dream."

"Oh yeah, follow the dream that had you waking up in a cold sweat. Brilliant idea."

"Glad you agree. Now that we're all on the same page, let's go."

"It's called sarcasm, ever heard of it? Going to the mall is a bad idea and a waste of time."

I fixed him with a death glare, despite knowing that, yes, Nico was the king of death glares."I _said _we're _going_ to _a mall_."

**. . .**

Moments later, we stepped into the nearest mall.

Almost immediately, I felt myself being drawn towards a nearby toy store. A sign over the store announced that it was named 'Child's Play'. The logo hanging below the sign showed an animated stuffed rabbit head with a missing eye and stuffing hanging out of the neck.

In hindsight, I probably should have realised that a toy store named after a horror movie with a decapitated rabbit as its logo was ominous and probably evil, but at the time, I was extremely distracted by something deeper in the store.

I walked in, scarcely noticing the aisles of eerie stuffed animals as I made my way towards the back of the store, where the aisles stopped and the walls were lined with shelves. They were completely covered with rows upon rows of little expertly made rag dolls. Each one had the same white fabric as skin and was about as tall as half my arm. They were all unique in their own way; different length, colour and styles of yarn hair, different shapes, sizes and colours of button eyes, different coloured mouths that ran straight across the lower part of their faces like perforated lines.

And they were staring at us.

Of course, I loved them. I had a strange love of creepy stuff (as long as it wasn't _too _creepy, like starfishes or something), _especially _rag dolls. I just thought they were the cutest little things!

Unfortunately, the others didn't seem to share my view. They looked nervously at the dolls, looking ready to bolt.

"Is it just me, or are they watching us?" Leo asked, his fingers inching towards his tool belt.

"You guys are just being paranoid." Sage insisted. She seemed to be the only one not bothered by them.

I opened my mouth to speak when a smooth female voice spoke from behind us. "You're admiring my dolls?"

We all turned towards the owner of the voice. It belonged to a woman, tall and pale as marble. Her ageless face had cold blue eyes, flushed cheeks and a perfect red lipped smile. Her hair fell down her back in perfect waves. She wore jeans and a blue blouse with matching heels. She looked absolutely too flawless.

Nico edged a bit towards the door. "Sorry for interrupting whatever terribly important business you were dealing with. We were just leaving."

"Stay." She said. It sounded kind, but had a slight undertone of malice, and I got the feeling it wasn't optional. "I so rarely get customers. Please, why don't you buy something? I'll sell you one of my precious dolls, half off for such interested children."

It sounded like a pretty good offer to me, but Nico didn't seem to think so. "We don't have any money." He insisted. "And we have to go. Now."

"That's too bad." She said eerily. Now I knew the dolls were watching us…because there heads turned and their eyes began glowing red.

**That's all, folks! Remember to review for more! I hope y'all are enjoying my story! Love,peace, and chicken grease!**


	6. The reason I hate statues

**I'm on holidays! Yay, more time to write! But my family is going on vacation in a few days, so I won't be able to update…Until then, I'll work like crazy! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I actually own a rag doll! But that's about it…**

**Leo's P.O.V.**

"Who are you?" I questioned, reaching into my tool belt and pulling out a wrench.

The woman slowly turned to me, the eerie grin still plastered onto her plastic face. "Did I forget to introduce myself? Oh, how rude of me. Forgive me, my name is Galatea."

Leann gasped. "I know you! Well, your story, anyways. You were a statue, and your husband prayed to Aphrodite to make you human, so that you could be together. And she granted his wish…" Leann frowned. "But why are you still alive? And why are you all evil and creepy? You got a happy ending…"

Galatea laughed bitterly."Oh, how sweet, you believe in happy endings? You believe that Aphrodite didn't add some tragic twist? Well, let me tell you how the story _really _ended.

"True, my dear Pygmalion asked Aphrodite to make me real, and his prayers were answered. And yes, we were very happy together. But Aphrodite has a horrid addiction to tragic love stories. I may have seemed human, but I was really still a statue; unable to age, unable to have children, unable to even die. Sweet Pygmalion did not share the same fate. My lover grew old and died, and I was left to mourn forever. But I wouldn't be abandoned that easily." She grinned at the dolls. "I made my own children, so I wouldn't have to be alone." She dropped her voice. "I'm afraid they can be quite shy, though." She raised her voice once more, now addressing the dolls. "Come, children, there are people here to play with you!"

Almost immediately, the dolls began hopping down from the shelves. Alone, they probably wouldn't have been too much trouble, but there were hundreds of them. The little things swarmed us, crawling all over us, opening their little dotted line mouths to reveal rows of pointed little teeth, each one made of Celestial bronze. Slimy, black little tongues hung out of their mouths, seemingly made out of Styx's water.

We desperately peeled the dolls off of us, but there were too many. Still it wasn't too terrible until I heard a yelp nearby. I looked over and say Leann shaking her arm wildly, trying to dislodge one of the little creatures that had latched onto her with its tiny teeth. She shook it till it came loose and went flying across the room, hitting a wall and landing in a slump on the floor before getting right back up, one of its button eyes missing and blood on its cottony little face.

Small shouts of pain and surprise filled the air as the little monsters bit down on each of us repeatedly. This is the point where we realised weapons would be useful.

Percy uncapped Riptide. Nico drew his Stygian iron blade. I gripped my wrench. Man, I wish I had a cool weapon like the others… Then I realised…at least I _had _a weapon. I looked over at Leann and Sage and was pleasantly surprised to see I may have just been worrying needlessly.

Sage pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves and yelled, "Εντολη΄. Κοιλος΄!" Her bracelet began to glow and change. It became longer and sharper until she was holding a full sized Stygian iron scythe which was taller than her. It looked pretty heavy, but Sage carried it like it weighed nothing.

She wasn't the only one with an impressive secret weapon. "Αποκα΄λυψη!" Leann shouted. Her ring also changed forms. It grew until she was wielding a full sized saber with blades on both ends of the hilt. It was Celestial bronze, with blue gems at the base of either end.

We began slashing and hacking at the dolls, waving our weapons madly. However, we quickly realised that it took a hell of a lot of work to kill these things. They had to be torn nearly to ribbons before they stopped getting back up. There were so many of them, they almost seemed like little hydras, for every on that we destroyed, two more would take their place.

"We need to get out of here!" Percy yelled.

"Gee, thanks Captain Obvious!" Sage remarked sarcastically.

"Shut up, I'm trying to think!" Leann shouted at them.

"It's a miracle!" Sage remarked, still dripping in sarcasm.

"Not a good time for that!" Leann argued. There was a long moment of silence, broken only by the sound of ripping fabric and metal tapping against metal. Finally, Leann hit herself on the head, narrowly avoiding cutting her head open with her double saber. "Duh, it's so obvious! Kill the mother. Break the statue!"

"Didn't she say she couldn't die?" Nico questioned, probably liking the plan about as much as I did.

"She can't die in any human way. A statue can always break, right?" Leann sounded like she was really asking herself.

"A bit overconfident, are we?" asked Galatea. "Is it really a good idea to discuss your battle plan right in front of the enemy?"

We glanced around at each other without answering her question before nodding. We knew what needed to be done.

Percy distracted the dolls by forming a mini hurricane around them while the rest of us charged at Galatea. Her eyes widened as Sage's foot connected with her face, making her head snap back. When she looked back at us, there was a long crack running down the right side of her previously flawless face. Nico punched her in the stomach, making her double over as we heard a cracking sound. Leann took the opportunity to slam her elbow into the back of Galatea's neck, making a large crack in the base of her head.

Now, I'm not one to hit a lady, and I won't deny that Galatea was really pretty, but destroying her was necessary. So I kicked her feet out from underneath her. She hit the floor with a loud crunching sound. Her head connected with the floor and made a sound like a vase falling from a shelf and crashing into a million tiny pieces.

Leann placed her foot on the side of Galatea's head with a sigh. "Look Galatea, we're really sorry about your relationship problems and whatever, but killing people with evil rag doll children is _not _okay. So…we're gonna have to kill you." With that, she stomped down on Galatea's head, shattering it. Half of her web laced face remained intact, looking up at us. It seemed almost…relieved. Then the life drained out of it and we were looking only at a broken statue.

As Leann had predicted, the moment Galatea was destroyed, the dolls stopped attacking. They simply looked around and trudged in circles like they had forgotten something important.

The group of us stood in silence for a while, trying to properly register what had just occurred. Finally, Sage spoke up.

"You know, I always knew malls were filled with soul sucking demons, fake girls and monsters of the unknown bent on ridding the world of people 'like us'. I just thought they were all too busy shopping at 'Abercrombie and Barf'."

**That's the end of this chappie! Remember to review for more! Love ya!**


	7. Food Court Fun

**I really want to update one more time before I leave….Alright, this chapter may be a bit rushed, buy I tried. For tat0r-tots, check out her stories, they're really good! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: The closest thing I own to PJO is the books on my shelf and my Camp Half-Blood T-shirt **

**Nico's P.O.V.**

The group of us sat in the food court, munching of stuff we'd gotten with the money I said we didn't have.

We had decided to take a food break before continuing with the quest. Sage's scythe had reverted to a bracelet automatically and Leann had gotten her ring back after saying 'Επιστροφή.'.

Something in my head was nagging me about something that I was supposed to say, but right when I remembered it, Leann spoke.

"Nico…don't say it." she warned.

I smirked. "I told you so." Leann glared at me. I laughed. "What? I did."

Leann rolled her eyes and popped a fry in her mouth. Then she frowned, a confused look on her face. "Don't look now, but there's another demigod here." Automatically, everyone began searching wildly for the demigod. "I told you not to look!" Leann groaned.

"Friend or enemy?" Percy asked.

Leann bit her lip. "I'm not sure." She answered. Not for the first time, I suspected she was hiding something about her power. "Either way," she continued, "we're about to find out."

Moments later we were approached by a girl. Her sky blue eyes stood out against her tanned skin. Her straight brown hair which reached about mid-back was worn braided over her shoulder. She wore a green T-shirt and jeans with black combat boots. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out where I'd seen her before.

"Thank the gods I caught up with you!" she breathed, sounding relieved.

"Um…sorry, but, do we know you?" Percy asked awkwardly.

The girl nodded. "My name is Mikayla Christina Liz, daughter of Apollo. Well, just Mikayla or Liz for short. I came to camp about a week before Leann got here. I think you were already on your quest by then. You're Percy Jackson, right? And Leo Valdez and Nico di Angelo. Pleased to meet you." She smiled briefly at us before continuing.

"We'll have to save proper introductions till later. Chiron sent me here with an important message. What was it again? Oh, I was supposed to tell you that Chiron said that Rachel said that the Oracle told her to tell him to tell you that you should beware the Son of Fire. Yeah, that's it." She nodded proudly.

**Leo's P.O.V.**

"Son of fire?" Nico asked. The group glanced nervously at me. It was obvious what they were thinking. Hephaestus was the god of fire…and my dad. So wouldn't that make me the son of fire?

I shook my head. "More importantly, how do we know we can trust you? Wouldn't Chiron just iris message us? Why send another demigod?"

Mikayla shook her head. "He had an urgent meeting on Olympus. He had to talk to the gods about Leann." She quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to say that…"

Leann sighed. "Glad to see how trusted I am on Olympus."

"Oops…" Mikayla muttered.

Leann suddenly perked up. "It's okay! At least I know you guys love me!" She flung her arms around the shoulders of the two nearest people, which happened to be me and Nico, and pulled us in close. "Who cares what the gods think anyways!"

"Air!" Nico gasped, swatting at her arm.

Leann's eyes widened. "Sorry!" She released us.

Mikayla sat at our table like she had been with us the whole time. "So…do you guys believe me?"

Leann shrugged. "I don't see any reason not to. Warnings can't cause any harm, right?" I'm pretty sure we all knew better than to actually believe that, but no one said anything about it.

"Oh good, that's a relief." Mikayla sighed. There was a very long, very awkward moment of silence as we finished up our meal with Mikayla watching us like she had nothing better to do.

"Um, well," Percy spoke up, "we're kind of on a quest, so we should really get going."

"Oh, right, of course." Mikayla said. She stood to leave at the same time as the rest of us. "I should be getting back to camp then." She nodded at us and left.

Once she was out of sight, Leann turned to Nico, grinning victoriously. "See, I was right! That's why we were supposed to go to the mall, so that we could meet Mikayla and get that warning! My dream really _was_ telling us about the quest!"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course. It wasn't a coincidence at all. Well then, since you know all, what do we do next? I suppose you'll want to jump off a cliff into a volcano?"

Leann's grin widened and she looked around at us with a crazy glint in her eye. "That's exactly what we're gonna do."

**That's all for now, folks! Sorry this chapter was so short, I was low on time. And it's a bit pointless too; I really didn't know what exactly should happen next…But when I get back from vacation, I'll make sure to post the next chapter, and make it super awesome! For now, just remember to review! Byee!**


	8. Road Trip!

**Hey everyone! I just got back from my vacay, covered in bug bites, sunburn, and inspiration. Wouldn't want to waste that-the inspiration, I mean. So, without further ado, chapter 8!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HoO, the plot or characters for either series. Heck, I don't even own Sage! I do, however, own a stuffed elephant!**

**Leann's P.O.V.**

"We're not jumping off a cliff." Nico insisted.

"Yes, we are." I replied.

"No, we're not."

"Yes, we are."

"No, we're not."

"Yes, we are."

"No, we're not."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"My dream is related to the quest. It said we'd go to a mall and when we did, we got awesome advice from a fellow demigod. So I say we're going to jump off a cliff."

"Meeting Mikayla was a total coincidence. Plus, are you forgetting that before that, we were nearly killed by little dolls? Jumping is a very bad idea."

"Well, I'm the quest leader, so what I say goes. And I say we're jumping."

"You know, I-"

"Um, hate to interrupt your little couple fight," Sage interrupted, "but what about El Capitan, in California? There's a guy up there who lets people rent parasails, and the Clear Lake volcano is nearby. Plus, it's right on our way to the underworld."

"El Capitan?" I pondered. "Hm…" I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking hard about the name. Then…

_We jumped off the cliff one at a time, hanging tight to our sails. But just after we jumped, I heard a voice calling desperately to us._

_ "Wait! There's something important you don't know!" But the voice was swept away in the wind._

_ And then, we were falling._

I felt my back straighten as I gasped. The others stared at me with a bit of concern. "Are you alright?" Nico asked, sounding a bit wary.

I struggled to find my voice for a moment before muttering "Um, yeah, something important is gonna happen at El Capitan. We should head there."

It was clear from the look on the other's faces that they could tell I had just returned from one of my little visits to the future. There were no further arguments as we exited the mall. It was getting kind of tense, but, of course, we could always count on Leo to lighten the mood.

"So," He grinned "road trip to California?"

**. . .**

"How the hell did you hotwire a car?" I asked, sitting in the back of the black SUV Percy was driving.

"Um, hello, mechanical genius here." Leo stated boastily. "If I had time and the right materials, I could have made an entire car."

"Congratz." I muttered, smiling slightly as I turned to stare out the window.

We quickly realised that cramming five ADHD kids into a car for a prolonged period of time wasn't going to work out very well. The car was forever filled with loud complaints of boredom and stiffness. We were constantly shifting and trying to get comfortable, which was just about impossible. We irritated the life out of each other just because it gave us something to do. We made several stops to stretch and move around before setting off once more. By about the seventeenth one of these stops, it was beginning to get dark.

"It's getting late," Percy said as we piled back into the car. "Let's just find some hotel or something to spend the night."

We only reached Ohio, so it was a bit irritating that we would be stopping so far from our destination, but it's true that we all needed to get out of that car for as long as possible as soon as possible.

About ten minutes later, we pulled up by a motel. A flickering sign told us it was named _'Midnight Stop Motel'. _Well, that was convenient, seeing as how it was nearing midnight.

Percy checked us in, getting two rooms-one for the guys and one for the gals. Of course, by gals I just mean me and Sage.

We said our goodnights and went our separate ways. I thought at the time that we could just sleep off the events of the day and move on with our lives. But man, the shit that went down next…

**. . .**

"Hey, Leann, I'm going to ask you a kind of personal question." This came from Sage, who was sitting on her bed at the other end of the room.

I shrugged. "Alright, go ahead and ask; I don't mind." I climbed into my own bed, pulling my beloved stuffed elephant out of my bag.

"Oh, cute, you thought I was asking your permission." I rolled my eyes inwardly. Classic Sage. "I was going to ask…well, you used to talk about Leo and how cool he was and whatever before we knew all of this was real-"

"Before _you _knew it was real, you mean." I interrupted. Sage rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyways, even though you said Leo was cool and whatever, you're been spending a lot of time with Nico, and you two seem pretty close. So what I want to know is…which one of them do you like?"

"Both." I answered without hesitation.

"Both?!" Sage seemed surprised. "But…but you can't like _both _of them!"

"Relax." I insisted. "I do like both of them, but they're measured on different scales. If I were to measure them on the same scale, the outcome would be way different." Sage seemed lost. I sighed. "Alright, let me explain. How to say it…well, I love Nico. Really, he's great and I'd do just about anything for him. But I love him like a brother. He's just like a bratty older brother who annoys me to Hades, but he's family, so you can't help but care about him.

"Leo on the other hand…that's a different kind of love entirely. I'm pretty sure that in the context you meant, Leo would be the only possible answer."

Sage seemed to consider this for a moment. "But, if you like Nico as a brother, then why-"

"Goodnight, Sage." I cut her off, turning my back to her and pulling my colourful elephant (her name was Elly) close to me. I closed my eyes and searched for sleep, which wasn't very hard to find.

In my dream, I found that I was unable to move. I was strapped down in a chair, duct tape over my mouth, my eyes unwilling to blink. I didn't panic or struggle, instead feeling my body relax. I found that I was always in this position when I was forced to see the future.

**Nico's P.O.V.**

I stood outside of the door to the girls' room, grumbling under my breath. Percy, too lazy to do anything himself, had sent me to make sure everything was safe over here. I drew my hand back, about to knock, when I heard Leann's voice drifting out of the room.

"-Say it…well, I love Nico. Really, he's great and I'd do just about-" I backed away from the door, realising it was a bad idea to try to listen to this. Still, after hearing barely more than a sentence, the words were stuck in my head.

Leann liked me? Since when? How did this happen? I mean, sure, I guess I like her too, but not in _that _way…

Percy and Leo glanced up as I entered the room. When they asked if everything was alright, I muttered something about things being safe in the girls' room and got ready for bed. All in all, I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing as we climbed into our beds.

If our first day of the quest had been so disturbing, _what the Hades should we expect for the rest of it?_

**Tada! That's chapter 8! Sorry you didn't get the amazing, hilarious, action packed chapter I had promised, but this is the best I can give for now. Tell me what you think in the reviews. Chao! **


	9. The wheels on the bus make us hungry

**Hey you guys! I want to thank everyone who reviewed, and a special big-up to festus-nuggets! Your review made me feel really good about myself and this story. The end of this little chappie was an idea given to me from my friend tat0r-tots. Make sure you read her story 'It doesn't always work out'! Anyways, for those who really wish this author's note would end so that they can continue reading, wish no more! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: What do I own today…erm…looks like I got nothing…**

**Leo's P.O.V.**

Damn it Apollo, is the sun in my face really necessary?

I was woken at 6 in the morning because Apollo decided to troll me for leaving the curtains open. Of course, if I can't get my sleep then no one can. I woke up the other guys, who seemed extremely annoyed at being awoken so early, and made up some shit about how we needed to get moving and deal with the quest.

"Fine," Percy grumbled, sitting up. "Just go get the girls and we'll go."

I nodded and headed towards the door before stopping. "Wait…you're not just gonna go back to sleep when I leave the room, are you? And don't bother say you're not, 'cause I already know you are."

"Just go!" Nico's command was muffled as he lay with his face buried in his pillow.

Frowning, I trudged out of the room and made my way down the hall to where the girls were staying. After picking the locks instead of just using the spare key, I stepped into the room. "Decent or not, I'm here now, so it's time to get out of bed!"

Sage's bloodshot eye cracked open and she glared at me. "Get. Out. NOW."

"No can do." I shrugged. "Time to get up and get ready for day two of questing." Sage simply groaned and covered her head with her pillow. I shook my head and went over to where Leann was sleeping, figuring I'd have to wake Sage last.

Alright, pretty strange image. Imagine a fifteen year old girl in a deep sleep, lying flat on her back, covered up to her chest with a thick blanket. Normal enough, right? Now imagine a colourful but threadbare stuffed elephant on the ground next to her. A bit on the childish side, but still pretty normal. Now imagine that she keeps twitching despite being in a deep sleep. Continuously twitching, but different parts of her twitching at different times. A bit unnerving, right? Now just imagine that she starts mumbling in a muffled voice, despite the fact that there was nothing over her face. And now you have to wake her up. Not the best way to start your day.

"Alright Little Miss Seizure, time to get up! The early bird catches the worm!" No response. "Come on Captain Crazy, we need to go." I gave her a little shake. Nothing. "Wake up! Rise and shine! Get out of bed!" I shook her after each word. Finally, her eyes snapped open and she made a motion as if tearing something off of her mouth.

She took a deep gulp of air then looked around wildly. "Where is she?" She seemed panicked. Finally, she spotted the elephant on the floor and scooped it into her arms desperately. She hugged it for a while, her eyes squeezed closed, as she tried to calm down.

After a few moments, I cleared my throat awkwardly. Leann opened her eyes and stared at me for a few seconds, like it wasn't registering to her that I was there. Finally, it clicked as she gasped and promptly fell out of bed. "Leo?! What the Hades are you doing in here?!"

"Good morning to you too," I grumbled. "Sorry for interrupting your seizure, but it's time to get going again. So try to get Sage out of bed and get ready." I left the room, trying to get the image of her twitching body out of my head.

**. . .**

"Alright, road trip! Let's go!" Leann seemed a lot perkier as we piled back into the SUV for the rest of the journey. But of course, demigod + confined area for a long time = bad results. In about ten minutes, the car was filled with noise.

"Hey, I'm bored!" Leann groaned impatiently. "Let's play a game or something. Oh, I know! _The wheels on the bus go round and round! Round and round! Round and round! _Everybody now! _The wheels on the bus go round and round…!"_

"I'm hungry!" I complained loudly. "Can we stop at an IHOP or something? Geez, I'm starving!"

"Leann, would you stop making that horrible sound!" Sage sounded extremely annoyed. "I really don't care what does what on a bus!"

Nico was silently bobbing his head and drumming to some song he was listening to on his i-pod. Meanwhile, Percy yelled at the rest of us, trying to get us to shut up. "Leann, stop singing! No one's gonna sing along, okay?! Sage, there is no need to be so harsh. Yes, I _know _I just said the same thing as you! Yes, Leo, we can stop for food in a second. Yes, as soon as we see an IHOP we'll stop. Nico…you keep doing what you're doing."

Naturally, that didn't work. Leann kept singing children's songs, Sage kept complaining about it, I kept being hungry. Finally, we stopped outside of an IHOP, and nothing else mattered to any of us.

"Oh, thank the gods, FOOD!" I rejoiced. The others seemed fairly relieved that we had arrived as well. Looks like I hadn't been the only hungry one.

As we all squeezed into the booth, one of the first things we noticed was that the place was almost empty. The only ones in there other than us was a tall, skinny man in all black sitting alone in a corner booth, a mother and her young daughter. This struck me as a bit odd; sure, all businesses had their slow days…except for IHOP. However, my hunger got the best of me and I decided to brush it off.

We weren't seated for long before a waitress approached us. She seemed fairly young; maybe 28 years old. She had pale skin and long black hair which she wore in a high ponytail. Her emerald green eyes stared down at us from behind boxy black glasses as she flashed us a brilliant smile. "Hi, are you guys ready to order?" she asked in a perky voice.

We all ordered our respective pancakes (really, is there anything else to order at IHOP?) while our waitress scribbled down our orders in a little notepad and walked away. It didn't take very long, however, before her returned with our food.

Percy and I automatically dug in, enjoying our pancakes, while Leann and Nico picked at theirs' like there was something on their minds. Sage did neither, instead staring at the smiling waitress.

"Are you waiting for something?" she asked. Her voice sounded more like she was saying: _Get the Hades out of here. _

The waitresses grin widened and my now foggy mind finally registered that she had fangs. I forced my eyes to meet hers, suddenly overwhelmed with drowsiness. _She had slit pupils._

And that's the last thought that registered in my mind before I blacked out.

**Chapter 9, everybody! Hope you liked it! Well, you all know the drill by now: Review! Till next time! Peace!**


	10. Not the pancakes!

**NO! My wonderful vacation is over! I have to go back to school…so I'll deal with it by posting this chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own a picture frame now! But there's no picture in it…**

**Nico's P.O.V.**

As I hopped to my feet, drawing my Stygian iron blade, there was only one thought circling through my brain. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit._

I wasn't the only one, though. "Shit!" Leann cursed, jumping up with Sage. "Αποκαλυψη!"she yelled, at the same time that Sage shouted "Εντολή.κοίλα!" Their weapons formed in their hands.

Those weren't the only things that changed, though. Our waitress _also _undertook a little transformation. The little pigment her skin had drained away until she became as pale as death (What? No, I'm _deathly pale, _not _as pale as death. _There's a difference.). Her green eyes changed to a bloody red and her nails extended into talons. Even her legs changed, one becoming donkey-like, while the other changed to bronze.

"Bloody empousa," Sage spat disgustedly.

"Let's not be like that," the said empousa purred, her eyes locked on me. "Why don't you just give me a little kiss, hmm?"

I must admit, there was something very persuasive in the offer. It might have had something to do with her hypnotic crimson eyes…or maybe it was that soothing voice…

"Don't listen to her!" Leann warned, but her voice sounded like it was coming from underwater. "If you do, she'll just suck the life out of you, and Leo and Percy will be next!"

The empousa took her eyes off of me long enough to shoot a glare at Leann. "I don't _suck life, _you idiot, I _drink blood. _I just do it in a way that makes it seem like life is slowly being drained out of my victim." She turned her gaze back at me. "So, how 'bout that kiss?"

I probably would have given in, if it weren't for the horrified scream I heard as the mother noticed the monster. I don't know what the mist was showing her, but it clearly wasn't pretty.

The scream jolted me into action. I lunged at the empousa, who dodged with amazing agility. She laughed victoriously, as if she had already won the fight. "Hah! I'm a lot better at this than you would think kiddies! I have had centuries to practice, after all."

Sage made a sour face. "Ew. You're old."

The creature's face contorted with rage. "Why you-!" She lunged at Sage, who managed to block her talons with her scythe. I took the opportunity to slash at the empousa, but only managed to graze her arm as she slipped away once more.

This time, she attacked me, knocking my sword right out of my hands. I backed away as she approached me, smiling. Leann tried to block her, slashing her saber. The empousa dodged with her usual grace. Leann wasn't exactly the most balanced person on earth when she _wasn't _in the middle of a swing. So it wasn't exactly difficult for the empousa to kick her hard on the back, sending her sprawled on the floor, barely managing not to kill herself with her own weapon. She seemed to be struggling to breath, meaning the empousa had knocked the wind out of her. Still, she barely looked fazed.

As I scrambled for my sword, Sage quickly encircled the empousa with her scythe, so that it would only take one quick yank to end her. Still, she only smiled with amusement. She then gripped the flat of the scythe and vaulted to safety. She even managed to show no hint of pain on her face; though it clearly hurt like hell since her palm was red, raw and smoking.

I snatched up my sword at the same time that the empousa whirled to face me. She lunged at me just as I swung my sword, slicing her straight through the middle. Still even as she began to crumble to sand, she looked like she was the triumphant one.

"You fools have no clue what's in store for you," she rasped. "There's an army…a rather impressive one at that…they're coming for you." She stared at the man in the corner, who hadn't moved this entire time. "In fact, they're already here…" with that, she exploded into sand, which was quickly blown away on an eerie wind that reeked of sulphur.

We only had a second to catch our breath.

The man in the corner booth smiled as he dropped down onto all fours. His face became fuzzy, and hair began sprouting all over his body, which became more feline, until we were looking at a lion with a man's face. Then I noticed the tail, a leathery, spiky tail covered in spikes. I had seen a creature like this once before, and it brought back bitter memories. A manticore.

"Weren't you brats listening?" It growled in the raspy voice of a smoker. "She said, 'Time to die.'" It grinned and flicked its tail, sending a volley of spikes at us, like arrows from a crossbow. I rolled to one side to avoid them, Sage going the other way. Leann, still dazed from the empousa, slid back away from the spikes, ending up sitting under our table.

The manticore I could probably deal with. Even after three hellhounds broke a wall to get into the IHOP I wasn't too worried. But when I saw the monsters outside, just waiting to pour in-dragons and Scythian Dracaena and worse-it became pretty clear what the outcome of a battle would be.

Backing up slowly I whispered to the others. "Sage, at my signal, grab Leo and follow me. Leann, get ready to run."

"No whispering, half-blood!" the manticore growled. "There's no point in making a plan. Nowhere to run." He grinned wickedly. Suddenly, he lunged at us.

"NOW!" I yelled. I grabbed Percy, putting his arm over my shoulder and doing my best to support his weight. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sage do the same. I sprinted off as fast as I could carrying Percy's deadweight. Sage was close behind me. Leann took up the rear, warding off or killing any monster that got too near.

I looked around desperately, trying to find somewhere to hide. I glimpsed a walk-in freezer nearby. I quickly headed over to it and pulled the door open. Dropping Percy's body (Yes, I know I should have been more careful with him, but I panicked), I held the door open and gestured franticly for Sage and Leann to get in. At the moment, the monsters were out of sight, so if we hid, we'd probably get out alive. The two of them slipped into the freezer and I quickly eased the door shut.

Not long after, a shadow passed over the frosty window. We froze (uhg, bad choice of words), holding our breath, as the manticore's voice growled, "Search everywhere. Don't let them get out alive!" After a lot of scuffling, it fell silent. We released our breath.

We were still and silent for a long time after that. No one dared to risk moving or break the silence. Finally, Leann spoke up.

"Nico...I hope you know...you're an idiot."

"What?" I was confused and offended. I thought I had handled the situation pretty well. And she hadn't exactly been sprouting ideas.

"You see, the thing about freezers is...they only open from the outside. We're locked in."

"Want to know the worst part?" Sage asked, sounding miserable. "We never even got to have our pancakes."

**Ta-da! That's the end of this chappie! Sorry it took so long to update, I wasn't really feeling into it. Anyways, make sure you review! Laterz!**


	11. Nothing to fear but fear itself?

**Hiya, luckys! It's time for the 11****th**** ever chapter of Spend the night! Surprise! So put your hands up in the air and say yay! Alright, down to business. Before I start the chapter, I just want to warn you that this chapter will be a filler. Still, I hope you love it! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If you say I own PJO or HoO, I'll shoot! *Pulls trigger* BANG! Oops…**

**Leann's P.O.V.**

We were arguing for about half an hour before the others began to wake up.

"Where are we?" Percy groaned, sitting up.

"Was it always this cold?" Leo questioned, a violent shiver running down his spine.

We filled them in on everything that had happened since we got our food. Well, _I _filled them in. Nico pointed out any details I forgot to mention. Sage jumped in at the end, saying:

"And then Nico closed the door, which only opens from the outside. So now we're stuck in here, and we're going to freeze to death. And on top of that, we never got to eat, and the only food in here is ice-cream. And what kind of idiot eats ice-cream when they're freezing to death? So now, we're all going to die cold _and _hungry. And it's all thanks to bonehead over here."

She gestured at Nico, who seemed like he was going to blow up. "Gee, I'm ever so sorry I got us locked in here. I just happened to think it would be a good idea to close the door so that I could _save our lives. _Terribly sorry for the inconvenience."

Sage, looking just as mad as Nico, opened her mouth to snap back a response-no doubt something very rude-when Leo interrupted her.

"Hey you guys, no need to kill each other! Are you forgetting who you have with you? Son of fire here!" He pointed at himself. There was no doubt he was trying to joke and lighten the mood, but reminding them of Mikayla's warning had been a bad decision. It only reminded us that there was no one we could completely trust.

After a bit of searching, we found a few empty cardboard boxes that used to hold tubs of ice cream or frozen pancakes. We piled them in the centre of the room as Leo instructed us.

"Now, step back, kids. Let's blow this place up!" Leo grinned lopsidedly and snapped, a small flame springing to life over his index finger. I unconsciously scooted a bit farther from him. Due to a little…_mishap _I had when I was younger, I had a slight fear of heat sources. Of course, it didn't even compare to my fear of needles (those things are just pure evil), but it was a fear all the same.

Leo caught my slight movement and for a moment, a strange emotion replaced his usual easy going expression. However, his carefree grin returned before I could figure out what the strange emotion had been. Did I only imagine the look that seemed almost like…disappointment? Except that wasn't quite it…

Whatever it was, Leo didn't seem to let it get to him as he lit the boxes on fire. Soon, everyone was gathered around the flaming boxes like it was a campfire. I sat a bit further back from the others.

There was a long moment of comfortable silence before Sage spoke. "Hey, Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you could make a flame hot enough to melt iron?"

Leo considered this for a moment. "Probably. Why?"

"Well, it's just that if you had half a brain, you would have tried to at least melt the freezer's lock."

"…" Leo quickly hopped to his feet and approached the door, rubbing his hands together. "Alright, so how do I do this? Blowtorch or flamethrower?"

"Blowtorch." everyone replied automatically. It's not that we didn't trust his control over his fire, it's just that…yeah, okay, we didn't trust his control over his fire.

He shrugged. "Flamethrower would be faster, but…blowtorch it is." He snapped and again the small flame appeared over his finger, this time white hot. He went to work melting the lock.

We sat in silence for a long time before I noticed something that may have made me panic and over react a bit. I think I mentioned I was scared of…well…a lot of stuff. Now, I noticed that I was staring at one of my more recent fears.

I jumped to my feet. "Ant!" I yelled, and immediately began stomping wildly on the tiny black manifestation of evil. I didn't stop until I was sure the little demon was dead. When I looked up, I saw that everyone was staring at me with expressions that were a mix of horror, shock, confusion, and just plain WTF.

I smiled sheepishly. "Hehe…um…now might be a good time to mention that I have a bit of an issue with ants. But I prefer them to starfish, definitely. Oh, but the two of them combined are better than needles. Still, I'd rather get a shot from a considerably sharp needle that…I'm rambling, aren't I?" The others nodded. I sighed. "I'm just scared of a lot of stuff. I…I'm a scaredy-cat, okay?"

A long moment passed before anyone spoke. Finally Sage cleared her throat.

"I'm not a scardey-cat or anything, but I just want to say everyone gets scared sometimes. For example, if I were to say I was scared of what happens after death-and I'm not saying that I am or anything-then that would be perfectly normal. Suppose I lived a normal life? Who wouldn't be a bit freaked out at the thought of being forced to stand and do nothing for eternity? Not being able to recognize anyone…barely being able to recognize yourself…" She shuddered briefly before tacking on quickly, "Not that any of that stuff actually scares me or anything."

Another pause was made here. Percy spoke up.

"I'm claustrophobic. Well, it's more like a fear of chocking of suffocating than enclosed spaces. It wasn't too serious at first…just a mild irritation. But…I recently went on a quest with Hazel and Frank…back when I couldn't remember…" I nodded slightly. I remembered that quest. That was when they had freed Thanatos.

"During that quest, I almost died after falling into a muskeg. That's when it really started getting to me. It had me scared to a point where for a while, I was actually afraid of drowning."

For a moment, I wanted to yell at him and complain that what he had just said was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. He was immune to drowning, so why fear it? But that would be insensitive, and he _did _have a good reason. Still, I couldn't help but be a bit annoyed.

There was almost no pause before Leo jumped in. "I'm scared too." He said quietly. He had gone back to working on the locks with his back turned to us, so I couldn't help but wonder what emotion he was hiding.

"Not you're fears, of course. You guys have such wimpy fears." It was obvious that he was trying to lighten the mood, but it wasn't working very well. "I'm scared of hurting the people I care about. After what happened with my mom…" He trailed off. I knew, of course, all about what happened to his mother, since I'd been watching at the time. However, he hadn't told the others and they didn't want to push him. It might have been because he was using his fire at the time…

My attention turned to Nico as he took a shaky breath. "I…I'm scared of losing the people I care about. Zeus killed my mother, and I was forced into the Lotus Hotel with only my sister left. Then she died too and…" He shook his head. "I don't want to go through that again."

There was a long moment of tense silence. I reviewed the happenings of our time in the freezer before groaning. "No fair! All of you guys talked about deep, meaningful fears and I only got to mention little stupid ones."

The others looked at me expectantly. I quickly went over all my fears in my mind, trying to find one other than my worst fear. I really didn't like talking about that. There are some things that really can be spoken into existence…

Unable to think of any real fears other than that one, I took a breath and steeled my nerves. "Alright. A bit over a year ago, my best friend moved away. Whenever I see her now, she barely seems interested in me. My other friends too…they just seemed to care less and less about me. I realised…I can't take being alone. I'm scared of being forgotten."

Silence filled the freezer, but it felt good to get that out of my system. Finally, Leo spoke, breaking the silence.

"Well, we should probably make a proper plan on how to get out of here now…I just melted the lock."

**And that's all for this chapter! I command you to review then wait for the next chapter! Now REVIEW!**


	12. Of Thugs and Hookers

**You guys, I seriously need your help with an important decision! Okay, a while back, I was writing a fanfiction, but due to forces beyond my control, it ended up confusing and discontinued. I think I want to re-write it, but I don't know if people would read. So I need you to go onto my profile, read 'Love Ruins Everything', and tell me if I should re-write it. Wow, wordy intro…on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: Um…I own a book! Oh wait, I'm only borrowing it….**

**Leo's P.O.V.**

We thought over a plan for a few moments. However, after a few really bad plans ('Could we use Leo as a distraction then leave him to die while we escape?' and 'What if we dressed like bears and scare them off?' being among the worst), we decided to just make a run for it and kill anything that got in our way.

Despite the fact that I had melted the lock and could now open the door normally, I decided to kick it open, since it added more of a dramatic flair. And we fought our way out; slashing, stabbing, swinging and, in my case, burning. Somehow, we made it out a nearby window mostly unharmed. Once we were out, we knew from experience that the best thing to do just then was to run for dear life.

I really don't know if this was lucky or not, but there happened to be a conveniently unguarded bar where thugs and gamblers had taken to meeting in. So, naturally, we decided to just walk in there without a care in the world other than to hide from the monster army.

As would be expected, that had been a bad idea. We pretty much pissed off everyone in there just by walking in. So naturally, I had to say something stupid and make it worse.

"Um…we were just…looking for a bathroom?"

One of the tougher looking guys made his way over to us, sneering down at us in a way that reminded me of Sage's dad, Ares.

"You kids are a bit young to be in here. You might get hurt." He smiled cruelly at us, the tone of his voice indicating that he would be the one hurting us.

Still, Miss Crazy just had to laugh. "Puh-_leeze. _After the shit we just went through? I'd like to see you try. We're not scared of you."

I wanted to yell at her to shut up and that I was pretty scared of him, but it was too late. With a goosebump inducing glare, he began advancing towards her. I cursed her mentally the yelled, "Hey! Tough guy gonna beat up a little girl?"

Good news: My attempt to turn his attention away from Leann worked. I don't know why I had done it, but I was relieved that she was safe, for the moment. Because she's my friend, I guess…

Bad news: Now that the thug had decided not to eat Leann alive, it seemed he wanted to kill me instead. A crowd was starting to gather.

He walked towards me slowly and deliberately. I was tempted to pull a wrench or something out of my tool belt, but seeing as how it looked empty, pulling anything out would have raised a few eyebrows.

I noticed Leann watching with her eyes wide open, like she was shocked by what I had just done. Then I saw stars. The guy had hit me with an uppercut that made me stumble back a few steps and left the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. Regaining my balance, I tried raising my arms in defence, but he used my dizziness to his advantage as he punched me in the stomach. I coughed and couldn't seem to draw air back into my lungs. I sat down hard, my vision blurred. I felt a hand grab my hair roughly and the sound of a knife being drawn.

"Now, why don't we make some adjustments to this little face of yours, huh?" The thug sounded amused.

I braced myself for the pain, but instead I heard the distinct popping sound of someone cracking their knuckles. "Alright, that's it." It was defiantly Leann's voice, but it sounded as if it was coming from underwater.

"I insulted you. I'm your opponent. And for hurting Leo, doubly so." I wanted to protest and tell her to shut up, but all I could manage was a dull groan. What did she mean by that last part?

The thugs all laughed. "I won't hit a _girl._" He scoffed, as if he hadn't been about to do that very same thing only a minute ago.

"Good. That'll make this easier." I saw a blurred image of Leann, fuming, approach the man and kick him between the legs. Crotch shot. Classic.

The man turned on her. His eyes were burning with anger, just as much as what Leann was expressing. This was bad.

**. . .**

A few minutes later, the others were holding back a still rearing Leann to stop her killing a poor, defenceless thug who was now only half conscious and was being dragged away by his friends. I felt the others dragging me towards the bathroom; the girls' bathroom, to be exact. It occurred to me that this should have embarrassed me, but I must admit I was actually a bit curious to see what a girls' bathroom looked like on the inside. I was surprised and disappointed to see that it actually looked a lot like most boys' bathrooms, except without the urinals.

Leann seemed much calmer now that the thug was out of sight, but fury still blazed in her eyes. This mixed with worry when she looked at me. "I'd hit you for being an idiot, but it'd hurt too much."

Hurt? She must mean it would hurt me since I was already injured. I mean, what else could she have meant? I remembered the look she had given me when I had used my fire, the way she had moved further from me. I shook my head. "I'm fine."

Leann rolled her eyes then rummaged around in her backpack before tossing me a Ziploc bag filled with crumbly squares of ambrosia. I ate one, and in a matter of seconds, I was feeling much better than I had been moments before.

We stayed there for a while, trying to figure out a new plan to get to California. It was clear that taking a car the whole way wasn't going to work out. We needed to get there fast in something that would at least allow us to stretch our legs every few minutes without having to stop. Planes were out of the question, we all knew how friendly Percy and Zeus were. After a bit of debate, we decided on a train. We would be able to walk up and down in the compartments and aisles and it was pretty fast. It was simply the most convenient way.

We were just about to walk out when a lady entered the room, and can I just say, she was _fine._

The lady appeared to be in her early twenties, maybe around twenty-three? Her raven hair fell in prefect waves down her back and over her shoulders. It was a sharp contrast to her clear blue eyes and fair skin. We could tell she was a slut or a hooker because she wore a skin-tight black leather mini-skirt and clingy white shirt that exposed much of her cleavage with black stiletto boots. She had shiny, dangly earrings and a necklace to match.

She seemed a bit surprised to see us in there, seeing as how 1) We were underage and 2) Three of us were guys, but she didn't say anything for a while. Then her face split into a dazzling grin. "Now, what are you all doing in here?" There was a flirtatious tone to her voice. I couldn't tell if it was there from habit or if she was doing it especially for us.

I opened my mouth to reply, but the only sound that came out was, "Feh, feh, fbleh, asdhefd." I was completely tongue tied.

I noticed that the other guys were reacting the same way; even Percy, who had a girlfriend, seemed somewhat stunned. The girls, however, seemed extremely annoyed.

The hooker laughed. "Isn't that cute! My name's Mormo." She winked at us.

"Well, _Mormo, _to answer your earlier question, we were just leaving." Sage spoke harshly, her eyes never leaving Mormo's perfect face.

Mormo pouted. "Oh, that's no fun. I really wanted to play a game with you all."

"Too bad." Sage and Leann said in perfect sync as they started pushing us towards the bathroom door.

Percy seemed a bit confused. "Annabeth?" He shook his head as if trying to clear it. "_Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth." _He chanted, like saying her name was helping him to concentrate. What was he doing?

I vaguely noticed the bathroom door making a clicking noise as if it was locking itself. We turned to see Mormo giving us a fanged grin. "Maybe I should rephrase my earlier statement. You're _going _to play a game with me."

**I'm just realising I'm starting to end a lot of my chapters with smiling fanged women. I'll stop that after this chapter. Remember to check out 'Love Ruins Everything' by me and 'Why pick me?' by Tat0r-tots. She helped a ton with this story! But review first! Laterz!**


	13. Confessinons of a Creeper (part 1)

**Hey you peoples! Sorry for the late update, but I really didn't feel inspired. Why haven't you guys been reviewing? It hurts my ego-I mean, feelings. Erm...anyhoo, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I got a new computer, but it didn't give me the ownership of Percy Jackson...**

**Leann's P.O.V.**

I always knew hookers were the source of all evil.

Okay, so that's a lie. Technically, school was the source of all evil, since school gives knowledge, knowledge gives power, and power corrupts. Therefore, school corrupts, as you should all know. But that's not the point.

I glared at Mormo for a few brief seconds before hearing Sage curse under her breath. "I knew the name Mormo sounded familiar!"

"What are you talking about?" I questioned.

"Mormo was a spirit in Greek mythology that bit bad children to punish them." She stated as if it should be obvious.

I face palmed. "Of course it is."

Sage and I commanded our weapons to appear, and they did. Mormo frowned. "Why don't you put those _nasty _little things away?" She questioned.

"Why don't you let us leave?" I countered, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

She sneered at me. "But we haven't played our game yet." She stated.

"What game?" I asked. I knew we couldn't rely on the guys if a fight broke out. Nico and Leo seemed completely hypnotized, and Percy seemed to be struggling not to do the same. If it came down to it, it would be me and Sage, two inexperienced fighters, versus Mormo, who had been killing for centuries.

Mormo grinned, showing her fangs. "It's called Die or Die."

"Let me guess," Sage interrupted. "Either we die, or you die."

Mormo laughed. "Oh, no, no, no! Don't be silly! Either way, you die."

I clenched my teeth. "I hope you don't really think it will work like that." I forced out.

She laughed, but before she could do anything else, Sage and I lunged at her. The end of my saber facing her had slipped straight through her stomach and Sage's scythe had left a deep gnash in her neck. Normally, an attack like that would be more than enough to kill any monster, but Mormo simply gritted her teeth. "That's not very nice." She ground out. "I didn't say go."

She gripped the blade still in her stomach and forced it out, the other end growing dangerously near to my abdomen. I struggled to hold it back. Luckily, this took a lot of her attention, and in one swift movement, Sage had her scythe around Mormo's neck. One quick tug would be all it would take to end her. Unfortunatly for us, Mormo had an advantage.

"You should really lower your weapon." She said in a sickly sweet voice. "Otherwise, I may accidentally shish-kabob your little friend here." Sage hesitated for a moment before lowering her scythe as she had been commanded. Mormo's victorious smirk was short lived, however, as her face suddenly contorted in pain. She looked down to see the end of a celestial bronze utility knife sticking through her chest. In a matter of seconds, she had crumbled to dust and disappeared. Leo stood a bit behind the spot where she had previously been, holding a utility knife and breathing heavily as if it had taken all of his energy to brake the spell and kill her.

After a long moment of time, he sighed. "Every time I meet a hot girl, she just _has _to be evil."

**Leo's P.O.V.**

We sat in the SUV. For once, we were all silent and still. It seemed to have just dawned on us that five demigods travelling together would probably send out a message to monsters saying, _Hey! All you can eat buffet! Come and get it!_ There were no stops this time as we headed to the train station, knowing the sooner we were on a train, the better. Luckily, the car ride wasn't too unbearable and we managed to reach the station within an hour. Percy went to buy the tickets, leaving the rest of us with the instruction to stay put. Before long, we were boarding a three day train to California.

We all sat together in a fairly large booth, no one speaking much. Leann gazed out the window with a blank face. Nico tapped the rhythm to some song on his leg. Sage occupied herself by scribbling something furiously in a small notebook. Percy seemed content just sitting there and staring at a spot on the floor, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Meanwhile, I considered the quest.

We were supposed to get to the underworld in as short a time as possible while looking for some unknown item, while Leann dragged us all over the country. And there was something odd about her, too...I mean other than being a creeper who knows everything about all of us. Despite claiming to know everything, she had been just as the rest of us when the waitress had turned into a monster. Same for the hooker lady and the monster army. If she could see the future and knew everything that would ever happen, why hadn't she warned us about it, for her own safety as well as ours?

And why was I so obsessed with her safety anyways? I mean, freaking out over a convulsing body is one thing (that would scare anyone), but why had I defended her when that thug attacked? Was it because she was a girl? Because she was my friend? And what was up with all those weird things she kept saying? It would hurt too much to hit me? Who would it hurt, her or me?

I shook my head briefly, wondering why it was I had Leann in my mind so much. She could see the future, not invade my thoughts. So why...?

Leann cleared her throat awkwardly, interrupting my thoughts. "Uh...there's something you guys should know." The atmosphere in the train car suddenly changed from a relaxed silence to an awkward tension. She seemed to want to take back the declaration, but it was too late now; she had everyone's full attention. She sucked in a deep breath, as if preparing herself. "Well...there are several things, actually. The first thing..." she frowned and stared at me for a second before turning away. Was that supposed to mean something?

"I guess you guys are wondering about why I haven't warned you about all this...since I can see the future and stuff, you know?" It seemed I wasn't the only one who had been curious about this, as the others leaned forward expectantly. Leann seemed awkward and pressured. "Um...the thing is...and I probably should have told you this before...but the thing is, even if I see...stuff...I can't see things that relate to me. For example, I've been seeing you guys all my life, and watching your amazing stunts from miles away. But...after I heard the prophecy that would be sending you to Jamaica, I lost sight of you. It was because you were going to come into my life. Of course, at the time I didn't believe that." She fell silent for a moment.

"So that's why I didn't say anything about all the monsters. We were about to be attacked...but I didn't know that...I couldn't see it..." She sucked in another breath. "At least...that's how it usually works..." She stared out the window for a moment, blinking hard. "The other night, at the motel..." I struggled to keep myself from wincing. Nico also looked upset, I noticed with a frown. Had he seen something there that he hadn't told us about? I shook my head. Whatever it was, it couldn't be too important. Then again, I was keeping it a secret that she had been having a spasm...so...

"I had this dream." Leann frowned for a moment, then continued. "My dreams aren't like normal demigod dreams...I suppose it's because I'm not a normal demigod." She let out a short bitter laugh before continuing. "Usually, I have one of two types of dreams. Either mortal dreams that have no particular meaning, or I have a dream that shows the future. However, the dream I had that night wasn't in either of those categories.

"It started the way my future dreams usually start. I was strapped to a chair with tape over my mouth, and I couldn't blink. Seeing the future is an odd sensation; it's kind of hard to explain. It's kind of like you're hot and cold at the same time and someone's tattooing something into your eyes." She shuddered briefly. "I suppose I'm kind of used to it by now, though...

"Anyways, in this dream, everybody was there. I mean, all of us. Leo, Nico, Sage, Percy, and of course me, strapped to my chair. However, I wasn't really there in person, just a mental version of myself, watching the scene unfold, unable to do anything. I saw it like a movie on a screen. We were in Hades and you were walking. Someone was screaming. I couldn't figure out who it was...but it was me. I saw my physical body in the direction you were walking away from. I was screaming and crying and bleeding. And you were leaving me." There was obvious hurt in her voice. She had a faraway look in her eyes, and didn't really seem to be here at the moment. It was like she was re-living the dream.

"We would never-" Nico started, but he was cut off by Leann. She continued as if she hadn't even heard him.

"And while you were waling...leaving...I tried to fight myself free. Not my physical body, the mental one, who was watching it all happen. I tried to make sure you didn't leave. I tried...but I couldn't get up. I was stuck." She seemed to be on the verge of tears. Her voice was getting quieter and quieter, and her voice was beginning to break as she spoke. "And my physical body...she was cursing you. I can't explain, exactly. She was..._I_ was...cursing you...condemning you...and the next thing I knew...you were gone. You didn't disappear, you died. A monster came and killed you. There was...blood...everywhere. And I laughed. A woman came up to me...my mental body, that is. I was crying. I didn't think she could see me. No one ever sees me. But she did. She walked right up to me and knelt in front of me. She was pretty, with blonde hair and gold eyes. I realized she was my mother. It was Thea."

I was scared now. Her voice was shaking like crazy and she was trembling. She was fighting back tears, but at the same time, there was a wicked glint in her eyes. "And would you believe what she did? She petted me. Stroked me like I was just a puppy. She was talking to me. She told me that in the end, you would all just leave me. That none of you really cared about me...and that would be your downfall. The whole time, I was forced to see your bloody bodies...

"Of course, it was just a dream." She laughed nervously, as if that would remove the fear and tension in the air. "Something like that couldn't possibly happen, right?" She looked around at us.

"Of course not." Percy agreed after a while. "We'd never leave you behind."

"Your mama's just crazy." Sage said bluntly. Then after a moment's consideration, tacked on, "No offense."

Leann gave another nervous laugh. "Well, I just wanted to get that off my chest." she stated. It almost looked like she was going to say something else, something important, but then she just said, "Jeeze, we haven't eaten since we left camp! I'm starved. Anyone up for a trip to the dining car?"

**That's the end of the chapter! Remember to check out 'Love Ruins Everything', and R & R!**


	14. Emotions and Motercycles

**Heyo! Alright, so I'm finally on holidays, so this means I can post more frequently! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own a ring! Oh wait...this is my mother's...**

**Leo's P.O.V.**

No one could protest against the idea of food. None of us had eaten since the day before; unless you counted two or three bites of sleepy poisoned pancakes (I for one didn't; pancakes really don't fill you as it is).

We didn't speak much in the dining car, we simply sat in comfortable silence as we joyfully stuffed our faces. We ate quickly and contentedly before making our way back to our car with happy hearts and full stomachs. We settled into our slightly less spacious seats with comfortable sighs and groans. Demigods so rarely got proper meals outside of camp.

Most of us seemed to be pretty drowsy. We had only had enough money to have either meals for the rest of the trip or a bedding car for the same amount of time. The decision was obvious. Leann stretched, letting out a soft groan. "Ohhhh, niggaritis."

Nico stared at her with slight confusion. "What?"

Leann stared straight back. "Niggaritis. The sleepy feeling you get after eating too much." She shrugged. "I'm sure you've heard it before." The statement was disregarded as she let out a wild yawn, which quickly spread through the rest of us. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna get some sleep." With that, she slipped out of her shoes, pulled her legs onto her chair, tugged her rainbow elephant out of her bag and rested her head on the shoulder of the person next to her-me. Soon, she was snoozing.

Not long after, we began to drift asleep, one at a time. I was awake the longest. My mind was so full of thoughts, I thought I might stay up the whole night. However, eventually, sleep claimed me as well.

**. . .**

I was woken by quiet snickering. I couldn't remember what I was dreaming about...but I think it may have had something to do with pizza. I shifted in my seat with a slight groan. My legs felt like lead. Opening my eyes, I saw why.

The train bumping along the tracks-or possibly plain restlessness-had made Leann shift in her sleep. Her head was now resting comfortably in my lap. Her still face held furrowed eyebrows, closed eyes and a slightly parted mouth. I realized with slight surprise that when she slept (and wasn't having a seizure), she was pretty cute.

The snickering was coming from across the car, where Sage, Nico and Percy were glancing at the two of us, whispering and giggling. Nico looked a bit more uncomfortable than the other two. I wondered briefly if he and Leann had some sort of relationship. I felt an odd pang of pain in my chest at this thought.

This did nothing to help the slight blush I felt creeping into my cheeks. "What's so funny?" I demanded, trying not to let my voice shake, although it was slightly hoarse from disuse.

Percy seemed surprised that I was awake, but Sage spoke up in a mocking voice. "Oh, nothing."

I opened my mouth to question them further, but the train's intercom came on suddenly, interrupting me. _"Attention passengers. In ten minutes, we will be making a brief stop in Kansas. Passengers will be asked to return to the train within five hours. Anyone who has not returned will be left. Repeating. In ten minutes..." _The voice on the intercom echoed the instructions.

"Did they say _Kansas? _Like, Wizard of Oz or whatever?" This came from the still unmoving Leann, her voice sounding weary.

Nico stared at the girl, who still hadn't removed her head from my lap. "You're awake? Have you been awake all this time?"

Leann finally sat up with a loud exhale. "Uhg. To answer your question, yes." She shrugged at the expressions of everyone in the car, including myself, staring at her. "What can I say? Human flesh is more comfortable than pillows." She stretched, ignoring the new set of expressions being displayed. "We can, like, do stuff while we're in Kansas, right? We don't have to just sit around and do nothing while we wait for the train?"

Percy frowned. "I guess so..." I could tell from his expression and reluctant tone of voice that he didn't like the idea.

If Leann noticed, she didn't let on. She simply gave a brief nod. "Good. I wanted to go to the Quality Hill Playhouse."

"That sounds like something you'd name a whorehouse." Sage stated bluntly.

Leann glared at her. "I'll have you know that Quality Hill is a theater that allows talented musicians to sing songs from Broadway musicals. This year, they're doing songs from Les Miserables, Wicked, The Producers and Lion King, to name a few." She jutted her chin out at Sage as if to prove a point.

Sage rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

"And Nico's coming too!" Leann added. The stabbing pain in my chest returned at these words. I'm not sure if it was made better or worse by the fact that the news seemed new to Nico as well.

"I...I am?" Nico seemed flustered as he stared at Leann with a confused look on his face.

"Of course you are!" Leann chirped as if it should be obvious. "I'm certainly not going alone. And I figured you would mind less than any of the others." She frowned briefly. "Unless, of course, you'd rather not. I could always just..."

Nico shook his head as the train slowed to a stop. "No, it's fine. I just didn't expect it, I guess."

Leann nodded, a smile back on her face. "Good." She hopped to her feet. "So, let's go!"

"And what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Sage questioned irritably.

Leann blinked at her. "How should I know?"

**Nico's P.O.V.**

Oh gods, why did I agree to this?

Leann and I ended up walking through Kansas City together after the others split off to go take a tour of a nearby Harley Davidson motorcycle factory. I kept meaning to mention what I'd heard wen we were at the motel, but I couldn't work up the nerve, which really annoyed me, seeing as how I could scare ghosts away and kill hellhounds without batting an eye.

Once we got close to the place, Leann made us stop at a grimy public restroom so that she could change. She kept on complaining that her clothes were too crumpled and messy to go to a theater. I will never understand girl problems.

She emerged not too long after, wearing a short black dress ending in white lace with a large red cross down the middle. Low-heeled black ankle boots were worn over black and red striped leggings. She had brushed her hair into a high ponytail, on top of which sat a red bow.

Leann struck a pose. "So, on a scale of one to ten, how gorgeous do I look?"

I ignored the question and gave her an accusing look. "Why do you even have that with you?"

Leann offered a wink and a mischievous grin. "A girl's gotta be prepared for anything."

**. . .**

It didn't take too long after that to reach Quality Hill. Leann quickly ushered me inside once we got there, insisting that the show was about to start. She bought us tickets and in a second, we were in the theater, waiting for the show to start. Actually, I think I might have been waiting for it to end.

**Leo's P.O.V.**

We arrived at the Harley Davidson factory with me feeling like my head was going to burst from confusing emotions.

Every time I thought of Leann and Nico, I got this throbbing pain in my chest. The two of them got along really well, and Leann seemed to like him a lot. I don't know why that bothered me, but it did. It bothered me plenty. I shouldn't care. So why was it that all of this made me feel so...

"Hello, everyone! Thank you for choosing to take the tour of the Harley Davidson motorcycle factory. My name is Lottie, and I will be your tour guide!" A perky looking woman was standing in front of us. She had flaming red hair pulled into a ponytail and silvery gray eyes. Her pale skin was scarred...from factory accidents? She wore black pants and a white button-down shirt with low-heeled black shoes under a white coat. She was holding a clipboard and grinning widely.

"Uh, hi. I'm Percy, and these are Leo and Sage." Percy seemed uncomfortable.

"Will we get to ride a motorcycle?" Sage questioned, looking quite comfortable.

Lottie gave a short laugh. It sounded a bit irritated, as if she was tired of random tourists asking the same question. "Of course, dear. You'll just _love _that, won't you?" She turned and marched through the hall, letting us wonder what it was she meant by that. "Come along."

Lottie led us through the factory, pointing out what was done where, how it was done, how it helped the motorcycle, the history of the thing and a bunch of other stuff that I'm pretty sure no one really paid attention to. The whole time, she kept on saying weird things about us, particularly Sage's interest in the bikes. It was close to the end of the tour when Sage snapped.

"Alright, that's it. I'm done screwing around. What the hell do you keep talking about?!"

Lottie gave another irritated smile. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" She was drumming her long nails on her clipboard. A really uneasy feeling was beginning to settle over me.

"Look, lady, we don't mean any trouble. We just-" I was cut off by Lottie, who continued as if I hadn't spoken.

"Really, I'd expect as much from a dimwitted child of Ares, but experienced sons of Poseidon and Hephaestus should know better."

"How do you..."

Before I could finish my question, and even before Percy and Sage could draw their weapons, Lottie changed. Her body elongated and grew, tearing out of her clothes. Her skin was covered in white scales. Her red hair morphed into spikes down her back. Her face became more reptilian, and her eyes became more silver than gray. He body stretched out until she had to go down on all fours. Each foot ended in dangerously sharp talons. She smiled at us again with teeth that looked like razor blades.

_"Die, demigods."_

**Ta-da! That's the end of this chapter! What?! I said I wouldn't end my chapters with fanged women anymore. That is totally not a fanged woman. Anyways, remember to review! Laterz!**


	15. Flashbacks save time!

**Hey you guys! So I'm back to write my next chapter, and I'm going to try to update weekly. No promises though! Anyhoo, without further ado, I give you chapter 15!**

**Disclaimer: I own a bottle of nail-polish. That's it.**

**Leann's P.O.V.**

By the time the concert ended, I was grinning from ear to ear. I have this severe addiction to music, especially if it's from actual _musicals. _I have been described as a walking musical before. No lie.

I followed Nico out of the theater, felling like I was going to explode. After one glance at me, Nico sighed. "You're going to be talking about that the whole way back to the train, aren't you?"

I nodded energetically. "Maybe even longer!"

Nico offered a slight smile. "You're such a music nerd."

"Says the one who's been listening to his ipod since we left camp." I scolded. "Now, don't interrupt me." I launched into a rant about the show, inserting little lines of song here and there. Nico shook his head but didn't interrupt. However, I didn't get very far before I heard the distant rumbling of motorbikes.

"What the..." Nico murmured, looking for the source.

I rolled my eyes. "Nico, motorbikes. Really, they're not that uncommon." Honestly, I was playing it down. Something felt wrong. But it was probably just my imagination. I mean, seriously, what's so freaky about motorbikes?

Wondering why Nico hadn't made some sort of retort, I looked at him, then in the direction he was staring at. My mouth dropped open.

Making their way towards us at alarming speeds were Percy, Sage and Leo, each on their own shiny new Harley. As they made their way towards us, the panic on their faces became increasingly clear. It didn't take too long to see why. A bit of a distance behind them was a large, white, serpentine figure. It looked like a drakon, but not any kind I'd seen before. I took a shaky step back.

The others quickly reached the spot where Nico and I still stood. "Get on." Percy said. Not a word of explanation. But none was needed.

I quickly slipped onto Leo's bike. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nico getting onto Sage's. He nodded to Percy, who, in return, reared the bikes engine.

I slipped my arms around Leo's waist, silently cursing Aphrodite. This definitely had something to do with her. Because, despite the horrifying monster that would probably catch up to us and eat us any second, as Leo's engine roared to life, I couldn't suppress a smile.

**Leo's P.O.V.**

Really, Aphrodite? Is this really a good time?

I could feel myself blushing furiously as I reared the bike's engine and slammed my foot onto the gas. Leann had her arms around me and was clinging on for dear life. _Leann had her arms around me. _And that outfit...

Shut up Aphrodite. I get it already. I like Leann. That's what you've been trying to tell me, isn't it? Now, will you let me concentrate on escaping from this monster? Just for a second?

As if in answer to my unanswered question, I found myself swerving to avoid a wall that seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Leann cursed loudly. "Leo! pay attention to where you're going!"

My heart sank, but I hid it by calling back, "I'm trying! Jeez, woman!" That annoyed her enough to shut her up.

Before long, we found ourselves at the train station. Our train would be leaving in a few minutes. Meaning, if we could reach there fast enough...

We hopped off the stolen bikes and began pushing our way through the crowded station. We needed to move fast.

Luckily, it seemed the gods were on our side that day, and we managed to make it to the train as it was departing. We jumped on, then watched the rapidly disappearing figure of a woman who had been a monster moments before.

"Close...That was too close." Leann breathed as we reached our car.

"What the hell was that?" Nico questioned, sounding extremely annoyed.

**. . .**

_"What the hell are you?" Sage questioned after summoning her weapon. _

_The thing that had once been Lottie gave a hissing laugh. "Have you never seen a drakon before, demigod?"_

_"Not like you." Percy spoke, Riptide pointed at it. His voice shook._

_The drakon hissed in laughter once more. "True. a creature such as me has never existed before! My mistress had me created, and now she creates many others like me! My brethren will destroy you puny demigods! We are Allagí̱ Drakons!"_ **(A/N: This is Greek for Change Drakons.)**

_"And who is your mistress?" questioned Percy, his eyes narrowed._

_The drakon suddenly looked a lot less proud and a lot more angry. "That is none of your concern, demigod. Now, die."_

_It lashed out at Percy, who swung Riptide. It left a long gnash down the side of the drakon's face and it reared back. However, when it turned to glare at Percy, the cut seemed to have completely disappeared. "You'll regret that, demigod scum!"_

_It clawed at Percy, who ducked out of the way just as Sage swung her scythe, slicing the creature's arm off. It drew back, hissing and screaming, but even as the blood bubbled out of the wound, we saw a new arm growing in. In a matter of seconds, it was completely healed._

_"The hell?! How are you doing that?" I questioned, annoyed, disgusted, and oddly intrigued._

_The monster hissed in laughter as a response. Definitely the most happy-go-lucky monster I'd ever met. _

_"All of you demigods are the same. You never know how to deal with something new. That is why you will be crushed."_

_It was official. We were screwed. _

_I looked around desperately. I knew I wasn't much help in battle. When it came down to it, I didn't have a real weapon. I relied on my fire, and, let's face it, I wasn't always that great at controlling it. What I did have to my advantage, however, was my wits. My brain was currently working in overtime trying to figure out a way to escape this situation. Finally, my eyes fixed on the bikes we were supposed to try. If we could get to those...A plan started forming in my mind._

_"You know, you aren't that scary. If it weren't for your healing, you'd pretty much be dead five times over already." _

_The monster glared at me, hissing. "Why you..."_

_It lunged at me. I flung the hottest fireball I could manage in it's face, and it reared back, shrieking horribly. I sprinted towards the bikes. After a moment of stunned stillness, the others ran after me. We got there just as Lottie the laugh-y drakon was regaining her senses. Luckily, they were considering enough to leave the keys in the ignition. And seconds later, we were hightailing it out of there._

**. . .**

Leann nodded, like she had expected something like that to ...it didn't involve her except the very end...had she known the whole time? Had she seen it?

Percy sighed. "Whatever. There's nothing we can do about it now except keep our guards up. Something like this can't happen again. Agreed?"

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement. Percy went on. "Right. Well, there's only one thing we can do now."

"And what's that?" Sage questioned, one eyebrow raised.

Then Percy, with the most straight, sober face I'd ever seen on anyone, spoke in a serious voice.

"Eat."


End file.
